ISTANBUL

Russia on Wednesday defined Washington’s plan to build a “Golden Dome” missile defense system as a “sovereign matter” of the US.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced he selected the "architecture" for his long-promised "Golden Dome" missile defense program, which he estimated will cost $175 billion during the next three years to create.

“​​This is a sovereign matter for the United States,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.

“If the United States believes that there is a missile threat, then, of course, they develop missile defense systems. All countries that have the potential for this do so,” Peskov expressed.

The spokesman denied that Russia is assessing the threat to nuclear parity with the US.

“It is necessary to understand the nuances here. There are no details of this project yet,” Peskov explained.

China, however, has said it is concerned about the project and that it heightens the risks of the militarization of outer space and an arms race.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin spokesman said Moscow and Washington were carrying out contacts on a potential prisoner swap involving nine prisoners from each side, adding that the date of the exchange had not yet been finalized.

Following a more than two-hour Monday phone call between Trump and Vladimir Putin, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said the two leaders had discussed the prisoner exchange.